


It's a Matter of Living

by a_novel_idea



Series: Matters [2]
Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Capital Bashing, District Tokens, Explination, F/M, Flashbacks, Games Manipulation, Love, Memories, Post Hunger Games, Pre Catching Fire, Sacrifice, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-09
Updated: 2012-04-09
Packaged: 2017-11-03 08:32:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/379387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_novel_idea/pseuds/a_novel_idea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequal to "Fire and Brimstone". Peeta explains to Katniss just what was going on in the Games while she survived on her own. Somehow it all reverts back to one thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's a Matter of Living

**Author's Note:**

> Very slight AU, and kind of Movie-verse. Also, italics signals a flashback.

The train home is just as nice, if not more so, than the train they took to the Capital. There are plush carpets, crystal chandeliers, fine and sturdy tables and chairs. The beds provided are sinfully comfortable and almost everyone seems in high spirits. 

Peeta has been quiet since their departure from the station, leaving all the cameras, and cheering, and costumed people behind. He’s not quite sullen, but there’s obviously something he has on his mind, though he hasn’t even tried to voice it. It’s the night before they reach District 12 that everything comes to a head. 

The four of them, Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, and Effie, are sitting down to dinner; it’s lamb and dried plum stew, Katniss’ favorite, but Peeta has barely touched his. Katniss keeps giving him looks, like he might just spill his guts at the dinner table, but he merely shakes his head. The Girl on Fire leaves it alone, hoping that, with  
enough time, Peeta will tell her just what’s going on. 

They pass through dessert in near silence; not even Effie and Haymitch are sniping at each other, both too worn out from the previous days of interviews. The stress of the political side of the Games has affected them all. It’s when the table is being clear that Peeta says,

“Katniss, can I talk to you?”

She looks at him for, most likely, a moment too long, and the baker’s son begins to become uncomfortable. 

“Of course,” she finally says. 

Effie hums as they stand to leave the table and reminds them that they will need a good night’s sleep in order to face their homecoming the next day. Both victors nod, promise to go to bed soon, and leave the dining car. Peeta leads her three cars down to a formal sitting room. Neither of them have ever been to this part of the train, but that leaves good odds that they will not be interrupted. 

They sit across from each other on matching velvet couches and Peeta pulls something out of his pocket, turning it in his hands several times before holding it out for Katniss to take. It’s a game piece, a knight, carved from a translucent, white stone. If she looks closely she can see the individual hairs in the mane and pinprick pupils in the eyes. But part of the figure is rubbed smooth, like a worry stone, like someone had held it nonstop over many years. 

“What is this?” Katniss asks.

“It’s a chess piece, a knight,” Peeta says. “It was Cato’s.”

Her eyes flicker up to his and before she can say anything, Peeta says,

“He gave it to me, one night during the Games when we were both on watch.”

“Why?”

“He brought it with him as his District token.”

“But why did he give it to you?”

_The pack of Career tributes trudged through the underbrush of the forest, not bothering to cover their tracks or conceal any noise they made. Clove led the way, boots crunching into pine needles as she stomped along the path. Glimmer and Marvel followed behind her, talking softly and making eyes at each other. Behind the District 1 tributes marches Toner, the District 3 male, and Ariel, the District 4 female; they both stayed quiet and kept distance between themselves and the rest of the group. Bringing up the rear was Cato and Peeta. Cato kept his hand on his sword and his eyes on the area around them; he was almost unnecessarily cautious. Peeta watched Cato, waiting for the moment that the brutal tribute would turn on him._

_When the pack had traveled quite a distance and dusk began to invade the sky, Cato called for a halt to set up camp. The seven of them gathered together, passing out chores that, some, were unnecessary, but would ultimately aid in their comfort for a night. Cato volunteered to scout the area and forced Peeta to go with him._

_The District 1 male led the way, pulling the baker’s son further and further away from the group. When the two had traveled enough distance to satisfy Cato, the tribute jabbed his only weapon into the ground and turned on Peeta. The other tribute stumbled back, wary of the larger male even though he had dropped his physical defenses._

_Cato’s eyes watched him, carefully and too observantly for a meat-headed Career._

_“Were you telling the truth?” Cato asked._

_“The truth about what?” Peeta demanded._

_“About being in love with that girl, the other District Twelve tribute.”_

_“Why does that matter? We’re both going to end up dead anyway."_

_“Answer the question!” Cato growled._

_“Yes!” Peeta nearly shouts, then softens. “Yes; I was telling the truth.”_

_“Good,” Cato stated._

_Peeta was bewildered._

_“Why? Why does that matter?”_

_“Because,” Cato said, drawing in closer to Peeta, past the spear and right up against his body. “She is going to win this, understand me? If it’s the last thing I do, I will make sure Katniss Everdeen wins this Game.”_

_Cato spoke so softly that Peeta doubted the hidden microphones could have picked it up; which may have been the point altogether. From any camera angle the Capital could have, Peeta was sure that their position looked like complete intimidation._

_“Why?” Peeta asked even more softly than Cato. “Why not just kill us all and go home?”_

_“Because I have nothing to go home to!”_

_He doesn’t yell, but it’s a near thing._

_“What are you talking about?” the bread boy demands. “You’re a Career! Don’t you go home to riches and honors for your District?”_

_“Maybe if I were anyone else,” Cato said, “but I’m not.”_

_There was a silence that was absolutely awe-inspiring, even the woods around them don’t make a sound._

_“Is this some kind of ploy?” Peeta finally asked._

_“No,” Cato said rather calmly._

_He retraces his steps to retrieve his sword and that in itself makes Cato seem more normal._

_“Keep walking,” Cato demanded, finally deciding that he couldn’t stand still any longer._

_They walk for a while, Peeta keeping his eyes on Cato, before the District 1 male began to speak again._

_“In my District, we work with stone,” Cato said quietly. “There was this girl, her parents died in a rock slide in a quarry, and she got really sick. She didn’t have the money to pay for a doctor and the Capital refused to help, even though she was the best sculptor anyone has seen in decades.”_

_Cato paused._

_“She made me promise not to volunteer for the Games, but after the funeral, I didn’t have reason not to.”_

_“What does Katniss have to do with that?”_

_“When I saw the District Twelve Reaping, when she sacrificed herself for her sister, I knew that she was someone who would do anything to protect someone she cared about. She deserves to win this; not you, not me, and not anybody else. For one year, just one year, someone deserves to win to inspire people, not because they were the better killer.”_

_“Cato,” Peeta said, though honestly the boy didn’t know how to continue._

_“Here,” the bigger boy said, thrusting something into Peeta’s hands._

_It was a small horse, a game piece. It was intricate and solid, but old and worn in some places._

_“The girl gave that to me,” Cato said, lips barely moving, barely whispering. “Give it to Katniss before she wins. Tell her to keep it. As a reminder.”_

_“A reminder of what?”_

_“That life isn’t worth living without someone to live for.”_

_Days later, on the night before the Girl on Fire drops the Tracker Jacker nest, Peeta worked up the courage to ask, “Did you lover her? The girl from your District?”_

_“More than anything this world could offer me,” he said, and that was the end of the matter._

“I don’t understand,” Katniss says. “Cato _picked_ me to win?”

Peeta nods.

“Why? How could he know that you wouldn’t just turn around and kill me?”

“For the same reason Cato was in the Games at all: love.”

Katniss’ eyes soften, and the corners of her mouth relax. She knows that the boy with the bread is telling the truth and that, as well, is the end of the matter.

**Author's Note:**

> I know I made Cato kind of OOC, but that had to play into why he picked Katniss to win. So, sorry if that upsets you. Leave a comment!


End file.
